The barrio doctor is in
MANILA, Philippines – One never realizes the intensity of a country’s need for doctors and medical practitioners unless one travels the breadth and width of the Philippines. From Luzon to Mindanao, from end to end of 7,107 emerald islands and 17 regions, one still encounters areas not even reached through decent roads but over rough mountain trails and rivers that swell impassably during heavy rains. One cannot imagine the deprivation and hardships encountered and borne by the residents of these places
However, this severe need for medical presence and expertise has begun to be served quietly and efficiently by a painstakingly conceived project that started some four years ago.
When the Bagong Doktor Para sa Bayan was launched by the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo in 2006, the news created minor ripples, if not skepticism. Arroyo had a close brush with death, afflicted with a rare heart condition as he was. It must have struck people as a mere act of whimsical payback, since he opted to have a team of Filipino doctors operate on him led by Dr. Rommel Cariño, instead of importing foreign doctors or traveling abroad to seek superior surgical and post-operative care.
Creating a scholarship program to support financially-strapped doctors is indeed an act of thanksgiving, but more importantly a recognition of Filipino medical skills and surgical superiority. It also sparked the idea to look into the program of the former Department of Health secretary and senator, Juan Flavier, which encouraged and supported doctors to serve in the remote barrios. That program merely needed an enhancement and a dedicated philanthropic sponsor.
The First Gentleman’s heightened interest resulted in the First Gentleman Foundation, Inc., (FGFI) in 2006 and its collaborative project with Dr. Flavier as honorary chair in partnership with educational institutions: University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), and this year, the West Visayas State University. The Bagong Doktor Para sa Bayan supports medical students through the last two years of medical school onto the medical board exams. All that the FGFI required of the graduates was their medical services for two continuous years in places selected by the Department of Health as soon as they finished.
